My Body, My Choice… Or Is It?

By Heather Scarborough

Every day we are surrounded by messages telling us how to think about our bodies. “My body, my choice.” “Follow your heart.” “If it feels good, do it.” “You only live once.” “Be true to yourself.” Though these phrases sound different, they all begin with the same assumption: I belong to me. If my body belongs to me, then I alone decide what to do with it. My feelings become my authority, my desires become my guide, and my happiness becomes my highest goal.

But Scripture tells a very different story.

The Bible does not begin with our rights. It begins with God’s authority. “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth” (Genesis 1:1). Before we ever had an opinion about ourselves, God had already spoken us into existence. Before we determined our identity, He created us in His image. Before we decided what would make us happy, He had already established the purpose for which we were made. We were never designed to be our own.

Sin entered the world through humanity’s disobedience to God. The serpent deceived Eve by causing her to question God’s Word and believe that what God had forbidden was actually something good to be desired. It was an invitation to reject God’s authority and establish our own. And humanity accepted the invitation.

That same lie continues to speak today. “You decide.” “You define yourself.” “Trust your feelings.” “Do what feels right.” “Your truth is your truth.” The language may have changed, but the temptation is remarkably familiar: You can be your own authority.

Yet Scripture teaches that true freedom is not found in belonging to ourselves. It is found in belonging to Christ.

And Scripture has been revealing the presence and work of the Spirit of God from the very beginning. In Genesis, we see the Spirit of God present at creation, hovering over the waters (Genesis 1:2). Throughout the Old Testament, the Spirit was actively at work among God’s people. He empowered, guided, equipped, and spoke through those whom God called. He gave wisdom and skill to Bezalel for the work of the tabernacle (Exodus 31:1-5), empowered the judges to lead and deliver Israel, came upon kings such as David, and spoke through the prophets. The Holy Spirit was not an impersonal force working in the background. He was actively accomplishing the purposes of God among His people.

Yet God promised something greater. Through the prophet Ezekiel, He said, “I will put my Spirit in you and move you to follow my decrees and be careful to keep my laws” (Ezekiel 36:27). Through Joel, He promised, “I will pour out my Spirit on all people” (Joel 2:28). Throughout the Old Testament, God made His presence known among His people. His glory filled the tabernacle. His presence filled the temple. These places were set apart because they belonged to God.

Then Jesus came.

John tells us, “The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us” (John 1:14). God Himself came near. Jesus Christ, God the Son, walked among His people. He lived the perfect life we could never live. He willingly laid down His life as the sacrifice for our sin. He died, He was buried, and He rose again.

But before Jesus went to the cross, He made His disciples a promise. He told them that He would ask the Father to give them another Advocate who would be with them forever—the Holy Spirit (John 14:16-17). Jesus even told them that it was for their good that He was going away, because if He did not go away, the Advocate would not come to them (John 16:7).

Think about that.

Jesus was telling His disciples that something extraordinary was coming.

God would not simply dwell among His people. He would dwell within them.

The Holy Spirit is not merely a feeling we experience during worship. He is not an impersonal force. He is not simply another name for the power of God. The Holy Spirit is God.

He teaches us (John 14:26). He guides us into truth (John 16:13). He convicts the world concerning sin (John 16:8). He helps us in our weakness (Romans 8:26). He gives spiritual gifts (1 Corinthians 12). He seals believers for the day of redemption (Ephesians 4:30). And He glorifies Jesus Christ (John 16:14).

When a person repents of their sin and trusts in Jesus Christ for salvation, the Holy Spirit comes to dwell within them. Not temporarily. Not conditionally. Permanently.

Paul asks the Corinthian believers, “Do you not know that you yourselves are God’s temple and that God’s Spirit dwells in your midst?” (1 Corinthians 3:16).

Then he makes the application even more personal: “Do you not know that your bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God?” (1 Corinthians 6:19).

Then comes the statement our culture desperately needs to hear: “You are not your own.”

Why?

“For you were bought at a price. Therefore honor God with your bodies” (1 Corinthians 6:20).

That is the answer to “My body, my choice.”

Not simply, “No.”

Something far greater:

My body belongs to Christ.

Paul isn’t arguing that our bodies don’t matter. He is saying they matter so much that God Himself has chosen to dwell within them.

Think about the progression. God created the heavens and the earth. God created humanity in His image. God dwelt among His people. God came to us in the flesh through Jesus Christ. Christ died to redeem us. Christ rose from the grave. The Holy Spirit was given. And now the believer becomes a dwelling place of God’s Spirit.

That should cause us to pause before we casually say, “It’s my body.”

Yes, it is your body. But if you belong to Christ, it is not only your body. It was created by God. It was purchased by Christ. And it is inhabited by the Holy Spirit.

That reality reaches far beyond any single cultural argument. It speaks to how we view sexuality. It speaks to purity. It speaks to addiction. It speaks to what we consume with our eyes and minds. It speaks to how we treat our bodies. It speaks to the choices we make when nobody else is watching. And it speaks directly to the lie that our feelings are sufficient authority for determining what is right.

Feelings are real, but they are not Lord. Desires are real, but they are not Lord. Our culture is constantly changing, but it is not Lord.

Jesus is Lord.

The Holy Spirit does not come into our lives to affirm every desire we have. He comes to make us holy.

Galatians 5:16 says, “So I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh.” Notice that Scripture does not tell us to follow every desire. It tells us to walk by the Spirit.

That means there will be moments when what we want conflicts with what God has said. There will be moments when our feelings tell us one thing and Scripture tells us another. Those moments are not evidence that God doesn’t understand us. They are opportunities to trust Him.

The Spirit leads us toward truth, not self-deception. He produces in us “love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control” (Galatians 5:22-23). He does not simply make us feel better about ourselves. He makes us more like Christ.

Romans 12:1 gives us the appropriate response: “Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God—this is your true and proper worship.”

Our bodies are not obstacles to spirituality. They are instruments through which we worship God. Our hands can serve. Our mouths can speak truth. Our eyes can look toward what is honorable. Our minds can be renewed by God’s Word. Our feet can carry the gospel. Our bodies can be presented to God as an offering.

This is not about losing ourselves. It is about finally understanding who we were created to be.

The world tells us that freedom means having no one above us. Scripture shows us that freedom means no longer being enslaved to sin. The world tells us to look inward and discover our truth. The Holy Spirit directs our eyes upward—to Christ, who is the Truth. The world tells us that our greatest responsibility is to ourselves. The gospel tells us that we were bought with a price.

And that price was not silver. It was not gold. It was the precious blood of Jesus Christ.

So perhaps the question is not simply, “My body, my choice?”

Perhaps the better question is:

“Who owns me?”

Because the answer determines how I live.

If I belong to myself, then my desires become my authority. If I belong to Christ, then His Word becomes my authority.

And if I belong to Christ, I am not left to figure out how to live on my own. The Holy Spirit—the very Spirit of God—dwells within me. He convicts me when I sin. He leads me toward truth. He reminds me of what Christ has said. He strengthens me in my weakness. He teaches me to put sin to death. He produces the character of Christ in me. And He continually points me back to Jesus.

So when the world says, “Do whatever makes you happy,” Scripture asks, Is it holy?

When the world says, “Follow your heart,” Scripture asks, Is your heart submitted to Christ?

When the world says, “It’s your body,” Scripture reminds us:

“You are not your own; you were bought at a price.”

And perhaps that is not a loss of freedom at all.

Perhaps it is the greatest freedom we could ever know—to no longer belong to sin, to no longer be ruled by our desires, to no longer be deceived by every feeling or cultural message, but to belong to Jesus Christ—to be forgiven, redeemed, indwelt, led, and sanctified by the Holy Spirit.

Our bodies are not merely ours to do with as we please.

For those who belong to Christ, they are temples.

And the One who dwells there is holy.